Ahhh, Christmas 2013. I had to revisit a childhood favorite of mine: Ernest Saves Christmas. I haven't seen this for over twenty years and remember loving and re-watching it so many times back in the late 80s.
You know (Vern,) watching these Ernest movies as an adult, it's not quite the same effect as viewing them through the eyes of a child. Recently, I've been revisiting three of the four I loved (or liked) as a child: Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Saves Christmas and Ernest Scared Stupid. (I have yet to re-watch Ernest Goes to Jail, and I will soon. I do have that on BluRay now, and that was my personal favorite as a child with this holiday special as #2.) And, boy, I can see how I liked them in my youth, and they do have some absolute humor that translates to adults, but they are over-the-top silly at times.
That said, there's a purity to them. Ernest, er, the late and great Jim Varney, has such a heart and kept everything in his act and movies clean. I like that. In fact, I'm surprised these movies are rated as high as PG. Honestly, there's nothing, and rightfully so, in them that should offend anyone. Thank you, Mr. Varney.
Here, in Ernest Saves Christmas, Ernest, the G-Rated, but somewhat unsafe, taxi driver gets mixed up with the real Santa Claus as he's on a mission to pass the torch onto a new Santa as the "magic is up."
Naturally, things are a lot more complicated as they appear and Ernest screws up a lot, but in the end, there's the heart and soul of Ernest P. Worrell who brings it all together.
While not perfect, you gotta admire it for its simplicity in a complicated film. One can criticize Varney's odd facial expressions and zoom-ins or even dislike them. But, he had a heart and he set out to make a (what I think should be a G-Rated) special Christmas movie. Mission: Accomplished.
* * * Final thoughts: Don't get me wrong. This movie is way silly. And I had to endure a few too many "made-for-younger-crowds" scenes, like eyes darting back and forth as a gag. It's okay to get past that when you know the core audience. I wish these movies, the Ernest series, would come back for the next generation so they can appreciate more family-friendly, (should be!) G-rated fare.
You know (Vern,) watching these Ernest movies as an adult, it's not quite the same effect as viewing them through the eyes of a child. Recently, I've been revisiting three of the four I loved (or liked) as a child: Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Saves Christmas and Ernest Scared Stupid. (I have yet to re-watch Ernest Goes to Jail, and I will soon. I do have that on BluRay now, and that was my personal favorite as a child with this holiday special as #2.) And, boy, I can see how I liked them in my youth, and they do have some absolute humor that translates to adults, but they are over-the-top silly at times.
That said, there's a purity to them. Ernest, er, the late and great Jim Varney, has such a heart and kept everything in his act and movies clean. I like that. In fact, I'm surprised these movies are rated as high as PG. Honestly, there's nothing, and rightfully so, in them that should offend anyone. Thank you, Mr. Varney.
Here, in Ernest Saves Christmas, Ernest, the G-Rated, but somewhat unsafe, taxi driver gets mixed up with the real Santa Claus as he's on a mission to pass the torch onto a new Santa as the "magic is up."
Naturally, things are a lot more complicated as they appear and Ernest screws up a lot, but in the end, there's the heart and soul of Ernest P. Worrell who brings it all together.
While not perfect, you gotta admire it for its simplicity in a complicated film. One can criticize Varney's odd facial expressions and zoom-ins or even dislike them. But, he had a heart and he set out to make a (what I think should be a G-Rated) special Christmas movie. Mission: Accomplished.
* * * Final thoughts: Don't get me wrong. This movie is way silly. And I had to endure a few too many "made-for-younger-crowds" scenes, like eyes darting back and forth as a gag. It's okay to get past that when you know the core audience. I wish these movies, the Ernest series, would come back for the next generation so they can appreciate more family-friendly, (should be!) G-rated fare.